


Amaryllis

by Yotsubadancesintherain5



Series: Fairytale/Supernatural AU [8]
Category: The Little Mermaid - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Murder, Redemption, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-22 17:45:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9618446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yotsubadancesintherain5/pseuds/Yotsubadancesintherain5
Summary: Regret spills over and stains her hands.





	

Her sisters' words had been clear. Let the blood of the prince and his wife spill onto your feet and your legs will turn into a tail. They had sacrificed for her, and she was afraid of dying.

The mermaid struggled to walk, the knife clutched in her hand. She did not stumble like the first day that she was on land, when the prince had found her near the sea.

She shook her head of the memory and willed away the tears. She silently pushed open the door where the prince and his wife were sleeping, drawn close to each other.

She stood over the bedside and breathed out shakily. She tried to approximate where the heart would be and drove the knife into the prince. She struggled to pull out the knife and held down the princess to stab her.

She didn't know that humans had so much blood in them.

The mermaid breathed heavily, her hands shaking and covered with blood. She felt something sick climb up her throat and she ran to throw herself over the side of the boat, her legs merging into a tail, her voice lodging itself into her throat.

Her sisters crowded around her and cooed but the mermaid could only see the prince and his wife, their faces frozen in horror. The blood from her hands and clothes became filmy in the water.

She said in a choked voice that she could never be forgiven for this crime. Her sisters only laughed and patted her head.

It didn't matter, they replied. Those were just humans. They would have died long before us anyway.

-

The mermaid had become withdrawn, a sharp contrast to the bundle of curiosity she once was. Her sisters and father had tried to cajole her back to her old self, but the image of the dead prince and princess would flash through her mind and she would not answer them.

Eventually they gave up. There was no fun to her anymore.

A few years before her grandmother was turned to sea foam, the mermaid settled next to her like when she was a child and told her everything. She soon was shaking with sobs, but her tears could not be seen.

The old queen stroked the mermaid's back and spoke to her soothingly. When the worst of the sobs quieted, her grandmother nestled her close and asked her what she wished to do. Take all the time that you need to think.

The mermaid wanted it to go back to how it used to be. But she could still feel the blood on her hands and they didn't deserve to die.

She thought of how this came to be. It was to gain a soul, a virtuous concept for those who turned into sea foam when they died, and that desire lead her to rescue the prince from the water.

The mermaid slid a hand over her tail and said that forevermore she would rescue those lost within the waves.

The old queen smiled.

-

It was not always easy. Some would think her trapped in the violence of the sea as well, until they saw her tail. They would disregard this, explaining that it was a dream created by primal fear of death.  
Others she could not save, no matter how hard she tried. But she would not let them fall to the bottom of the ocean and would bring them to land, so that they could have a proper burial.

The image of the prince and princess had faded over time, but the regret still burned within.

When three hundred years since the day of her birth passed the mermaid could feel her body dissolve into sea foam. Her family was there to bid her farewell. For this one aspect the mermaid considered herself lucky.

She could feel a sense of peace wash over her, and something comforting and airy seemed to rise from the foam.

The mermaid's soul was gained.


End file.
